


Jealousy

by StaticLantern



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: F/M, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-05
Updated: 2014-08-05
Packaged: 2018-02-11 20:21:34
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,792
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2081853
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/StaticLantern/pseuds/StaticLantern
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>The fact that Loki could change his appearance at will never exactly bothered Clint per say. Startled him, disgruntled him maybe, but the fact that he could completely change his biological gender at will always unsettled him. He couldn’t really put his finger on why. It was ‘unnatural’, yes, but so was pretty much everything Loki did. It just unsettled him.</p><p>(Tw for Transphobia)</p>
            </blockquote>





	Jealousy

**Author's Note:**

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> 
> Http://birdwithakeyboard.tumblr.com/

Even in captivity, Loki is a free spirit. Though, no one in the tower would really call it captivity, more like… concern. Concern that, should Loki leave the tower unsupervised, he may just take advantage, and for Loki, taking advantage seemed to end with someone dead. Or multiple somebodies.  
Of course, that’d not happened in nearly two years now. The restrictions on Loki’s… captivity… was greatly rolled back. He still never went anywhere without an escort, but that was mostly because he didn’t know how to drive, nor did he express any desire to learn. Tony theorized he liked forcing people to drive him places. It was the one area he had any control over other people. Other than when Tony and Bruce had deliveries.  
The two scientists were relentless and tended to go through materials painfully fast, what with all of their experiments and upgrades to Tony’s suit and to the security system and trying to invent new elements and chemicals and generally blowing up the lab- “Write that down, it’s not science if we don’t write it down.”-, materials were pretty much in weekly demand.  
Loki took advantage of the weekly parade of delivery men coming through the lobby, wheeling in crates of metal and safety gear. He’d taken it on as a personal chore to sign for and direct the boxes to their respective floors. Of course, he also tended to welcome the delivery men in his female form.

The fact that Loki could change his appearance at will never exactly bothered Clint per say. Startled him, disgruntled him maybe, but the fact that he could completely change his biological gender at will always unsettled him. He couldn’t really put his finger on why. It was ‘unnatural’, yes, but so was pretty much everything Loki did. It just unsettled him. Especially since Thor changed the pronouns he used for Loki depending on how Loki was presenting that day.  
Loki didn’t just change gender to greet the delivery, he often did it just because. He’d walk into the kitchen, and Clint would turn around, expecting to see Loki, towering several inches above him with shoulder-length hair and a defined jaw-line, only to see ‘her’ standing two inches shorter than him, messy hair falling to her waist, soft features defining her face and body. It unnerved him. And Thor just seemed to play along.  
Clint didn’t. Loki was a male whether he was parading around as a woman or not. He was a he if he was a damned amoeba, and he couldn’t see why no one else was bothered by Loki’s indecisiveness, especially Loki himself. He seemed utterly perplexed whenever Clint looked at him, confusion plastered across his face, as if the fact that Loki suddenly had breasts was just as normal as Clint suddenly having facial hair if he forgot to shave that morning.

He tried not to dwell on it much.

Delivery day came and Loki was standing in the kitchen, long hair let down loosely around her shoulders. She leaned against the counter, clad in a pair of pj shorts and an oversized white tunic. That morning’s newspaper was held up to her face in one hand, and a cup of coffee was clasped in the other, casually moving towards her lips every so often.  
“Hey, so, delivery, they should be here the usual time which is….” Tony had come into the kitchen wearing dark pants, a black tank top, and two sleeves of engine oil and rust on either arm. He’d stayed up all night. Again. “About forty five minutes. You got it covered?”  
“Don’t I always?” Loki asked, her voice relatively deep, but still obviously feminine. It flowed like music. Yet another thing to unnerve Clint, who was sitting cross-legged on the counter, looking absolutely exhausted, eyes barely open, a cup of coffee clenched in both hands.  
“Loooouuddd.” He whispered painfully, taking a sip from his coffee. “Everyone’s too chipper this early in the morning.”  
The doors slid open and Steve slipped into the kitchen. He was in grey sweats and a white t-shirt that clung to his body, wet with sweat. He’d been up for hours before anyone else’s alarm had even gone off, out running laps around his new buddy, Sam.  
“Nooooooo.” Clint whined, knowing exactly what was about to come.  
“Morning.” Steve announced breathily, about twice as loud as Tony and Loki had been previously.  
“Stoooop, put coffee in your face, stop talking.” Clint replied, slinking off the counter to lay on the couch.

As long as it takes for Clint to wake up, once he’s up, he’s up. Coffee gone, face shaved, hair… sort of clean, and he was dressed in faded jeans and a red t-shirt, he barely looked anything like his Just-Woke-Up self, who squinted suspiciously at everything, refused to wear anything more than what he’d woken up in, and whined at everyone to be quiet until his coffee was gone.  
Loki too, had finally changed out of her night clothes and was ready to greet the delivery men. Now down in the lobby, she was dressed in elegant, black heels, a pencil skirt, and a deep purple dress shirt. Her hair was put up in a rather extravagant style that she’d explained to Natasha was quite popular on Asgard (Natasha was more than interested in the hairstyles ‘woman’ Loki always had her hair decorated in).  
Loki was seated on the surface of the reception desk, which really was never used except by Loki to sit on flirtatiously. She signed for boxes, pointed, told the men where to put things, but mostly she picked a handful of the more attractive men to flirt with, laughing, chatting, touching their shoulders. It was like she’d been born to do this and this alone.

“I’m pretty sure we don’t get this many boxes usually, is Tony working on something we should know about?” Clint asked, swerving around people carting tall stacks of boxes through the lobby.  
“I don’t know Barton, I just sign for things. You’d have to ask him yourself.” Loki replied, flashing him a suggestive grin.  
“Do not… Don’t do that.” Clint retorted irritably, backing against the desk as two men carted especially large boxes past him.  
Loki pouted. “I’m sorry Barton, I forgot how much my beauty bothers you.” The group she was sitting with let out a few chuckles, starstruck eyes practically glued to her face. Among other things.  
“It’s not ‘beauty’ that bothers me, and you know it. These guys wouldn’t even give you a sideways glance if they knew-”  
“Hey!” She said shrilly, sliding off the counter and facing him. “I’m pretty sure you didn’t come down here to harass me. Don’t you have bars to flit about? If you don’t get going, you won’t get home smelling like you bathed in alcohol on time.”  
“Low blow dickweed.” Clint snarled, trying again to maneuver around the boxes.  
“It’s what I’m made of.”

Clint got home late, as usual, though not for the reason Loki claimed earlier. He does, on occasion, go to the bar near the tower and walk home smelling like he took a dip in a pool of whiskey, though usually he just goes out to be out. It’s not exactly a secret that he avoids Loki like the plague. He hangs out with old work buddies, sometimes he takes Bobbi out for old times sake, even though they’d separated several years ago. Short lived relationship, best years of his life though.  
Today, however, he’d spent a good portion of the day hanging out with Sam at his house. Steve had dropped by briefly and they went out to play pool. Sam and Steve especially liked telling old war stories, Clint preferred to listen, especially to Steve’s.  
When he got back up to the top floor, where everyone hung out when they weren’t reclusing to their own rooms, or labs, Loki had reverted back to his usual self. He was dressed in black leggings and a sweater that was at least a size or two too big for him. He looked up when Clint came in, but looked utterly disinterested and went back to writing or drawing on whatever piece of paper was stuffed under his elbow.  
“Did Natasha come back today?” Clint asked, pulling the fridge open and pulling out a can of soda.  
“No… I think Steve may have said something about her mission being prolonged, you should ask him when he gets home.” Loki replied distractedly. Clint glanced over his shoulder and saw that he was working on some puzzle in the newspaper.  
“He’s not home yet?”  
“No, he phoned a while ago, said he had to pick something up from his apartment or something.”  
“Where’s everyone else?”  
Loki said, leaning away from the paper and looking up in thought. “Tony’s downstairs in his lab, Bruce is running an errand, Thor is out with Jane again, Pepper is still in DC, Coulson is still dead, and I’m assuming Fury is either in his office downtown or at home snuggled away in his bed, is there anyone else you’d like to assume I know the precise whereabouts of?”  
“Jesus, you don’t have to get so snappy, I was just wondering.” Clint replied, opening his soda and walking away.  
“And you don’t have to act like absolute ass every morning.” Loki snapped back.  
“Are you seriously still sore about that? I didn’t even do anything.” Clint turned back to face him.  
“Not just this morning Barton, every time you see me as a woman, you turn into an absolute jerk, moreso than usual.”  
Clint took a step toward the counter, setting his drink down. He licked his lips, looking down briefly as though he was trying to collect his thoughts into a solid sentence.  
“You’re not. A woman, Loki. You’re not. It’s weird seeing you pretend to be one, and even more when you’re down there flirting with those guys.”  
“You sound jealous, Barton.” Loki replied, folding his arms over his chest.  
“I’m not jealous! It’s disgusting. You’re tricking those guys into thinking you’re a girl. What if one of them wanted to take you out on a date?” Clint asked, his hands on his hips now.  
“Well then I might go on a date with them. I’m not /pretending/ to be a girl, Clint. I don’t expect you to understand like the others do, but I do expect you to treat me with respect. I’ve more than earned it at this point.” Loki snapped, snatching his newspaper off the counter and storming past Clint.

It was late into the next day before Clint finally made himself seek Loki out to apologize. As usual, he went into the man’s room, not bothering to knock. He was aware it’d probably end badly someday, but right now he didn’t care.  
“Hey, can I-.” And suddenly he cared.  
Loki was down to her underwear, her wet hair hanging loosely around her, and Clint became painfully aware of how long Natasha had been gone.  
“Oh- I- sorry I-.” He turned around, facing away from the woman.  
“You’re like a child sometimes, I swear Barton.” She said, moving around the room. “I’ve warned you about this countless times. Of course this specifically wasn’t what I was talking about, it seems to have the same effect. You’re a grown man, I’m certain you’ve seen a woman naked before.”  
“Yeah, well, I have no burning desire to see you naked, Loki.” Clint replied.  
“And yet you’re still here. Are you trying to heroically save some unwitting man for being tricked into my arms with my devil magic Barton?” Loki was off to the side of him now, pulling things out of her dresser.  
“I- What?”  
“I’m going on a date, I assumed you were here to try to stop me.” Loki repled. Clint turned to look at her. Her hair was dry now and she was wearing a simple black dress that clung to her body.  
“I… didn’t even know you were- I… Is Bruce taking you?” Clint asked, folding his arms and furrowing his brow.  
“On the date or to- It doesn’t matter, neither. My date is picking me up here.”  
“O-oh ok…” He looked away briefly. “One of the delivery dudes?”  
“No.” Loki replied, sitting on the bed to pull on a pair of heels.  
“Uhm…” He furrowed his brow again. “Is… I don’t understand, why don’t you just date girls so you can go out as a guy.”  
“Because I don’t know any girls I want to go out with. And I don’t particularly want to go out as a guy right now.” Loki replied, standing up. She was about an inch or so taller than Clint now. “Look, I know it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense to you, but try to understand that sometimes I feel like a woman and I prefer being one. I’m lucky enough to have abilities that make it possible for me to look the way I want to. Many here on Midgard are the same way I am, and I’ve seen they have to permanently alter their bodies through medical procedures. I’m not abnormal for being like this, I’m not the only one. And as I said earlier, I don’t expect you to understand it, but I do expect you to treat me with respect.” Loki idled for a moment before stepping into the bathroom, tugging a brush through her hair.

Clint followed her, leaning against the doorframe and watching her in the mirror. The hairstyle she was tying her locks into now was much simpler than anything she’d done before, leaving it down and simply knotting several braids into her hair, connect them into a neat pattern.  
“I’m sorry. You’re right, I have been an ass to you.” Clint replied after a while. Her gaze flicked to him in the mirror, finishing up her hair and digging through a bag.  
“I appreciate the apology.” Loki replied, opening an eyeshadow case and drawing a brush over it.  
“If you don’t hate me too much, maybe I can take you out someplace… you know, if you’re not too busy with whoever it is you’re going out with tonight.” Clint replied, his words slightly mumbled, his gaze moving around the bathroom as though the curtain, the floor tile, and the light overhead was more interesting than Loki.  
Loki paused, the brush hovering over her eye. She set it down and turned to face Clint, leaning against the sink. Her mouth opened as though she was going to say something, but found herself speechless. Her eyelashes fluttered, her mouth opening again before letting her eyes focus on Clint again.  
“Are you-... Are you asking me out on a date?” She asked, sounding completely bewildered.  
“I dunno, maybe.” Clint replied, his gaze still wandering around the room.  
Loki reached out a hand and placed it on his cheek, forcing him to meet his gaze.  
“Oh-! Jeez, please don’t… just change like that without a warning.” Clint replied. Loki had shifted back into his male form, having changed his clothes back to simple pants and a dark shirt.  
“I want an actual answer Barton, don’t say something like and then act defensive about it.”  
“I wasn’t getting defensive!” Clint remarked.  
“Stoppit, give me a straight answer.”  
“Yes, ok, yeah I’m asking you out on a date.” Clint said, trying not to sound annoyed.  
“I can’t imagine how you’ve ever managed to get a date talking like that, but yes, I’ll go on a date with you. I expect a better attitude than that. Now shoo, so I can finish getting ready.”  
“You’re.. still going out with him?” Clint asked, sounding a little hurt.  
“No, I lied. I’m going out with Natasha and Pepper tonight.” She laughed, bringing the makeup brush back up to her eye.  
“You told me Nat wasn’t home yet and that Pepper was in DC.” Clint was getting that whine in his voice again.  
“Yes, I did, they got home today. You’d know that if you hadn’t locked yourself in your room to play video games all day.” Loki replied, placing the brush and the eyeshadow back in her back. She swiped a dark lipstick over her lips and turned the light off, exiting the bathroom.  
“Oh, one more thing Barton.” She turned back to face him, placing her hands on Clint’s shoulders and leaning in to kiss him. His hands sank to her hips, leaning into the kiss. “You’re terribly annoying when you’re jealous. Do try to keep that in check.”  
And with that, she turned and left the room, leaving Clint standing idly next to her bed, looking confused and slightly irritated, with dark lipstick stuck to his mouth.

**Author's Note:**

> Follow me on Tumblr!
> 
> Http://birdwithakeyboard.tumblr.com/


End file.
